earth angel
by AGENT Kuma-chan
Summary: Damian was in the desert. It wasn't a hallucination or an illusion—he and Cassandra were in the hot desert mere seconds after swinging to a Gotham rooftop. This was why he hated magic—there was no way to counter or negate it.


**Title: **earth angel

**A/N:** For desibrucewayne, for the DC exchange. You wanted Talia/Bruce, Cassandra, Damian, and time travel. I hope I delivered on it!

**Summary:** _Damian was in the desert. It wasn't a hallucination or an illusion—he and Cassandra were in the hot desert mere seconds after swinging to a Gotham rooftop. This was why he hated magic—there was no way to counter or negate it._

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Damian grimaced at the sand at his feet. His feet were sinking into the soft, loosely held together sand dune. Around him was more endless sand, a golden yellow as far as the eye could see. He glanced at the hot sun distastefully, his skin already starting to burn mere minutes after appearing on the soft sands.

The soft sands of a desert. Damian was in a desert. This was no hallucination or illusion. He was in the desert. And apparently in full Robin costume. At least he wasn't alone; Cassandra Cain stood next to him and judging by her body language, she was just as confused as he was.

How could they have fucked up this badly? His brow furrowed as he considered it all. "How did we get here?"

"I am not sure." Cassandra nonchalantly took off her cowl and shook her head. She ran a hand through her sweaty locks with a frown. The costumes were able to handle temperature changes but nothing this extreme. "Weren't we meeting Stephanie?"

"Stephanie?" Damian closed his eyes, trying to remember what had just happened. It was impossible to forget Stephanie's blinding purple uniform, as ugly now as it had been when they'd first met. As Batgirl, she'd waved to them from a roof, gesturing for them to come closer. Behind her, he had spotted a blue-skinned boy approaching her. "There was some kind of alien with her."

"Alien?" Cassandra blinked before her lips parted in a soft 'oh'. "Klarion was with her. And you attacked him."

"I thought he was attacking her," Damian defended himself, crossing his arms.

"He wouldn't do that." Cassandra paused. "Usually, at least." She gestured at their surroundings. "That explains this—he has teleportation powers."

"Teleportation?" Damian ground his teeth. He hated magic. There was no good way to counter or negate it. "Can that nitwit teleport us back?"

"Probably." Cassandra rubbed her neck. "Though that depends on his mood."

"So we have to rely on Stephanie to make him do it?" His eyebrow twitched. That idiotic beam of sunlight didn't know how to threaten anyone. Then again, if there was someone who was persistently annoying, it was her. Maybe Klarion would summon them back just to get her to shut up. He pulled out his communicator. It would be faster to just call the Batcave and get a helicopter. "I'll just send for—it's not sending any messages." He tapped the screen but that didn't change the status. "It's not connecting to the satellite."

"That's odd. Bruce planned for locations like this." After considering it for a moment, Cassandra pushed her hair back, tying it in a ponytail. "We have to find shelter. It isn't good to be out like this."

"I know that." Damian snorted derisively, pocketing the communicator. If there was one good thing about their teleportation, it was that he recognized the area. "One of my grandfather's old bases is nearby. We can wait there."

"I do not want to fight all of his men," Cassandra frowned.

"It's abandoned," Damian answered, already heading toward it. "It won't be a problem."

-x-

"I thought you said it was abandoned," Cassandra whispered as she peeked over a sand dune.

"It's supposed to be," Damian snapped back as he stared at the definitely-not-abandoned base. There were jeeps and camels leaving it. People were walking in and out at steady intervals. Hell, there was even a patrol.

Someone had taken over his grandfather's base.

He wasn't sure if he should want revenge or want to laugh at the old fool for leaving the place so vulnerable.

"That doesn't change anything," Damian continued, memorizing the patrol pattern. Fortunately, the employees here were incompetent, leaving gaping holes in their security. Perhaps a lesser man would fail to find a way, but this was child's play for two would-be-assassins. "If anything, this will make sending a message easier."

"We will have to be careful not to be spotted." Cassandra pulled her cowl back over her head. The jaggedly-pieced together Batgirl outfit was truly frightening in the dark alleys of Gotham. In the bright sunlight of the desert, it was just extremely out of place. "There is nowhere to hide the bodies."

"You're wearing all black," he pointed out snidely.

"That is not a problem," she replied instantly, already getting to her feet. "I can handle that much."

-x-

"This is strange," Damian muttered as they slowly stalked the hallways of the base. It had been almost child's play to get in and they didn't even have to take out a single guard to secure their entry.

That said, there was something truly unsettling about how Cassandra managed to disappear while they snuck in. He should have been able to spot her the entire time. It was black on gold.

"What is?" Cassandra asked, slipping to a wall and peeking around the corner. There were many intersections and bends in the hallway. Occasionally they'd pass by a stone chamber filled with food or other supplies. So far, there were no signs of a communications room.

"This place." Damian gestured at the rigid stone walls. They all looked perfectly cut and clean. "The walls look like they were made recently. They haven't been used in years."

"They cleaned up?" Cassandra suggested, poking her head into yet another dark chamber. "There's only ammunition in this one."

"But there's no way to hide that much decay—" Damian stopped talking. Behind him, he could hear footsteps echoing through the hall, quiet and intimidating. "Someone's coming."

"Hide," Cassandra urged, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the chamber.

"We can take him," Damian grunted, but he reluctantly crouched behind a barrel of guns. With bated breath, he waited as the footsteps grew louder and louder, a large shadow appearing on the walls. With the only light torches, the primitive cave felt more primal than it ought to be. Finally, when the shadow took over the entire wall, a man appeared in front of their chamber.

_Batman_, Damian thought, his eyes growing wide. _Father._

There was no mistaking that cowl, though the design was an old one. Even the build fit correctly. "It's not bad enough they're taking grandfather's base, they're also copying Father?" he growled, pulling out a dagger.

"Wait." Cassandra grabbed his hand, stilling it. "Not yet."

"And let that insult walk by?" Damian hissed. He yanked his hand free and quickly slinked off to follow the imposter.

"Damian!" Cassandra quickly chased after him. Or rather, considering that they didn't want to alert anyone, they both quietly slinked down the hall. The torchlights flickered and Damian hung back as far as he could, trying not to get caught before he interrogated and slit the imposter's throat.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to wait long. The copycat was coming to a stop before a chamber. All Damian had to do was follow him inside and no one would be the wiser.

Cassandra caught up to him as he hid around a corner. _Don't_ she signed, glaring at him.

_Watch me_ he signed back, watching as the imposter stood in front of a door.

After a moment, his mother appeared at the door and Damian bit back a gasp. When had she—that explained the base's use, but she had been dismantling Ra's bases the last he'd heard. What was she doing here? And why did she look so different? As his thoughts derailed, she stood on her toes and pulled off Batman's cowl. It was only a profile, but Damian recognized him immediately.

That was Bruce Wayne.

A younger Bruce Wayne. A younger Talia Al Ghul.

He had gone to the past.

-x-

"This is the past," Damian stated, if only to hear it aloud. His parents were in the chamber down the hall. Was he even born at this point? All of this because a blue demon couldn't control his powers properly. His hand curled into a fist. When he got back, he was going to beat that demon until he was black and blue.

"It seems so. That makes things…difficult," Cassandra replied. An understatement, truly. "I do not know if Klarion can bring us back."

"Why can't he?" Damian growled, pacing back and forth in the ammunition chamber they'd hid in earlier. They needed a place to think, to comprehend, but perhaps they should have picked another. His fingers were getting an urge to grab several of the daggers here.

"Stephanie said he could not control his powers properly," Cassandra replied slowly, rubbing her neck. She sat cross-legged on a barrel, watching him. "We will have to find another magician. Maybe Zatanna can help."

"Her?" Damian frowned. He had never been overly impressed with her work. Then again, none of the 'heroes' were adept magicians as far as he was concerned. Perhaps he should have stuck with his mother, after all.

His mother.

The image of her embracing Bruce flashed across his mind and involuntarily, he glanced at the direction of her chambers.

"She can connect us with others." Cassandra leapt off the barrel. "I will find a way to contact her. You find a vehicle."

"You don't order me around," Damian snapped but it was too late, Cassandra had already disappeared down the hall. He clicked his tongue as he rolled his eyes. And people complained about his communication skills.

Still, there wasn't a flaw with her plan. Even if Zatanna could teleport them, it was better if they didn't stay here. He wasn't sure if they'd accidentally contact his parents and change the course of history. Change the course of his existence. He would just have to steal one of the jeeps he knew his grandfather kept out here.

Quickly, he snuck to the chamber's exit and peeked outside. The coast was clear, as usual. It was no wonder his grandfather's plans failed so spectacularly, if this was the skill his henchman showed. From his memory of the layout, the jeeps were kept two floors below. He'd have to access the stairwell to reach them discretely.

Damian glanced to his left one more time, to his mother's chambers.

He should go.

He should go.

He turned left.

-x-

Love was blind, Dick had declared once.

Damian finally understood what he meant. His parents were blind. Utterly, completely blind. He was mere meters away from them, hiding in a darkened corner of his mother's chambers, and somehow neither Batman nor Talia had noticed him.

It was impossible.

He was never going to fall in love.

Yet, despite that, he couldn't leave the room. His parents were sitting on the balcony, eating dinner on a small round table. It looked so informal. Bruce was holding Talia's hand as she talked, a small smile on his face. He looked light, unburdened. Talia leaned closer, a coy expression as she gently swirled wine in her glass.

Damian watched, transfixed. He didn't know what to make of this sight, of this woman who was not his mother, this man who was not his father.

Of this relationship that no longer existed.

-x-

Damian whirled the keys around his finger as he stood next the jeep.

"You weren't spotted?" True to form, Cassandra reappeared next to him, holding an old school radio.

"I took care of it." He jabbed a thumb at the wall. Three of his grandfather's followers were knocked out, bound and gagged against the wall. "You can tell Dick I didn't kill anyone."

"I knew you wouldn't." Cassandra smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. Damian tried not to feel too pleased about it. Swiping the keys, she headed to the jeep. "Let's go."

"I could drive," he grumbled but he went to the other side of the jeep anyways. "You contacted Zatanna?"

"Not while we're here," Cassandra replied. The jeep hummed to life as she turned on the ignition and she winced. It was a sound they couldn't muffle. "Ra's might monitor it."

"I doubt he was wise enough to set that up," Damian sniped, still utterly disappointed by the lackluster guards in the area.

"Don't underestimate your grandfather." Cassandra slowly crept out of the garage, keeping the lights low.

"Maybe when he proves himself." Damian glanced back as they quietly rolled out of the compound, in the direction of his mother's chambers.

He knew the story well enough, of his mother's lies, of his father's fears. It was a story that would be replayed now.

Yet, he hadn't known his parents' joy. His parents' _love_. They looked happy, truly happy, for that one meal and while he was never one to think of what-ifs, they haunted his mind now. If he had revealed himself, preventing his mother's lies, how would it all have changed? Would they have stayed together? Would their relationship change?

Would he have changed?

No, there was no need to dwell on it. Just like the desert around him, the possibilities were vast. Damian was who he was now, and he didn't intend to change that.

"I'll call Zatanna," he said, fiddling with the radio. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner he could put it all out of his mind.


End file.
